Morningstar Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in F5, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 884 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FFIV. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in F5 in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of F5 during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 783.3% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 318 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of F5 by 79.8% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 320 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in F5 by 1,132.1% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 345 shares of the network technology company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 90.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at F5

In related news, EVP Chad Michael Whalen sold 4,093 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.33, for a total value of $1,188,320.69. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 27,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,915,557.12. The trade was a 13.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Lyra Amber Schramm sold 253 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.26, for a total value of $75,206.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 200 shares in the company, valued at $59,452. This represents a 55.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,574 shares of company stock valued at $3,455,057. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

F5 Stock Up 0.8 %

F5 stock opened at $309.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 1.06. F5, Inc. has a 52 week low of $159.01 and a 52 week high of $313.00. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $274.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.51.

F5 declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, October 28th that allows the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the network technology company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FFIV. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on F5 from $240.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. StockNews.com upgraded F5 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on F5 from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on F5 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on F5 from $285.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $295.00.

F5 Company Profile

F5, Inc provides multi-cloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud.